Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

This Irish film takes its title from the reported shortness of a goldfish's memory, which supposedly lasts only three seconds - enough time for it to swim around its bowl, and then its memory starts over again. "Goldfish Memory" could be described as a less pretentious and more natural "Love Actually": an ensemble cast forms a mosaic of love and sex in Dublin. In Dublin Tom, a 40 something literature lecturer, tries it on with any of his female students that are gullible enough. Clara, his latest conquest takes it badly when he moves on and repeat the cycle with one of his new students and she decides to try women. The woman she tries is Angie a newscaster. Meanwhile Angie's best mate is Red, a gay guy who works days as a bicycle messenger. Our cyclist has romantic issues of his own as he becomes smitten with David the hunky but straight bartender whose girlfriend is giving HIM grief. The film progresses on various interactions between these people and how ...

This film was disturbing and edgy at the same time. Made probably on a very very small budget (you can tell after watching the film), it does take some unexpected turns but a little simpler plot would have kept this film much more enjoyable. It started out slow and felt it could be one of those low budget really bad films, but the end result was not that bad. Corin, a thirty year old professional, and his younger, party-loving boyfriend Jake have been together for a while but they are having their share of problems. While Corin has settled down and likes to spend quiet evenings at home, Jake still loves the "bar" scene, and often views his relationship with Corin as holding him back from enjoying his youth. At work, Corin is able to confide in his boss and good friend Nancy who is the only one who understands him. Due to workload increase, Nancy decides to hire an assistant for Corin. At first, Elliot is awkward and somewhat nerdy, but likable nonetheless. Corin learns that ...

After a few minutes into the film (About 30 minutes or so), I could not take this movie any more. The lead character's meeting new a person in a different city, one after the other, was becoming too much of a problem for me. I just did not care anymore of where he is going to go next and who is he going to meet. And when you stop caring about what the characters do in their film, there is very little to hold your interest in the film. Breaking off concurrent relationships with an older woman and her son, we are introduced to Daniel, as he prances around London thinking he's God's gift to man and woman. But his freewheeling existence is put into question when his eccentric grandmother, the one person he genuinely cares for, sends him on a wild-goose chase to locate her father's grave. Traveling through Paris, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade in Serbia and Sofia in Bulgaria, he learns a thing or two about life. He meets new people in every country and invariable forms s...

Love is that queasy feeling in the stomach that only seems to be cured by alcohol until the queasiness turns to desperate sex. This film is a light drama that follows the above said principle. There are lots of ups and downs with a simple story. Different people have different views of love and how the equations keep changing between them based on this theory, is what this movie is all about. Kim Ho-Jeong dishes advice to lovelorn callers in her radio program with heightened optimism. Her fiancee Yoo Won-jae has been away in Paris for 2 years and she is waiting for him to come back and propose to her. He arrives from Paris with another man Lee Dong-hwa who everyone thinks has come with Yoo Won-jae to start the restaurant business. Still hopelessly waiting for her man to propose her, Ho-jeong doesn't take long to discovers the two guys are a couple and her lover is now gay. After the initial shock is gone, she asks him for one more chance and date her for a month so that she can...

Although this is just a 30 minute short film, it definitely deserved a separate entry in my blog. 'Cute' was the first word when I was 5 minutes in the film and it ended the same way. In between it had its bittersweet moments but in my opinion a very well handled overall theme. The interactions and relationships between two individuals who are very different from each other in every which way be it age, likes, sexual orientation and how it ends.  The film is kind of 3 acts and shows the three summers over a span of 3 years. Jørgen lives abroad, but every summer he comes back to Denmark with his wife. He invites, as usual, his neighbours and their teenager son,Thomas, for dinner at his place. Only, this time there is a strange tension in the air between the adults. After dinner, Jørgen and Thomas go to the beach for a walk. They discover that both have secret problems, and the fact they cannot talk about them is creating great stress. They decide to share a secret each. Thomas t...

It is very surprising that there is no entry for this film in imdb, especially since the director of this film has made other prominent gay films and some of them are really good as well. This is a retro film set in early 70s when rock and roll was in. The film definitely carries that look and you feel you are there (which was not too hard, considering 85% of the film is set in rooms and indoors). A young drug runner Dondo accidentally becomes the assistant to the manager of a glam rock bank while they are finishing their last song for their new album. Thanks to their manager Vangela, who recruits Dondo because he helps him cure the craziness of their lead singer Pagan who is a drug addict. Pagan, Dondo and Vangela are enjoying the drugs and sex life together. Things change when Pagan's partner Craig dies of drug overdose. Vangela wants Dongo to help her, so that Pagan doesn't find out about Craig's death. She wants him to focus and somehow finish the last song of the albu...

"Wire In The Blood" is a TV series that was aired in UK. This particular 2 part series has a gay angle to it and hence it qualifies to be viewed and reviewed here. Additionally, this particular story is also available as dvd on its own. I loved the film because I like murder mysteries in general and this was definitely one of those edgy intelligent, quirky, mystery that keeps you hooked throughout the duration. You are eager o find out who the killer is. Someone is killing off young men in fictive city of Bradfield, UK. The killer uses medieval torture instruments in the most sadistic way, and detective inspector Carol Jordan seeks help from clinical psychologist Tony Hill. Tony Hill is an intelligent, sensitive and excentric man who has a rare ability to penetrate the criminal mind and understand it. He's fascinated by those he examines, but never fails to empathize with their victims. Although some in the police force are opposed to his involvment he manages to stick w...

This was such a weird film in every sense. I have not seen so many people in a movie being ok with sexuality. A wife being completely ok with her husband having a boyfriend, a mother ok with her sons being call boys, 3 brothers dancing naked together etc etc. The list goes on. The director probably wanted to show us what some of the poor lower class people have to go through to make their needs meet in life but he could have shown that in a much nicer way in which viewer will empathize with characters a little bit. This is not to say that film was bad but it could have been treated better. Sonny and his older brothers, Dennis and Joel work as go-go boys in a sleazy sex emporium called the Club Exotica whose upstairs cubicles are reserved for paid assignations. Through prostitution, the boys are able to keep their closely knit family from starving. The 3 brothers essentially think of themselves as heterosexuals but do not mind doing things to get some money. Joel has a wife and child; ...

I have time and again said that I am not a big fan of musicals. Its even harder when the language is not your first language because the subtitles really don't translate that well. But there are movies at time which make you sit and take notice of them. You might not understand the language but the music and the acting are so engaging that you, for a change, dont mind of the subtitles are not doing complete justice to the film as such. This film, was originally a 4 part TV mini series but it fits perfectly well as a movie. The story is based on songs of Israeli pop legend Svika Pick. Miriam is an adoring fan of Svika Pick. She dreams of being a famous singer. She calles herself Mary Lou based on famous song of Svika Pick. Following her dreams of singing for the legend, she mysteriously abandons her son Meir on his tenth birthday. Meir starts making stories about her mother. Only Shuli, a girl from his school believes in him and they become best of buddies. Time passes and befo...

This is a very interesting film and take s a little while to hold audience's attention. Initially it did not seem a movie with gay theme but then it was definitely a very homo-erotic movie. After sometime, when the viewer starts getting deep into the story, you find out there is much more to it and actually there is a gay theme as well. Three brothers live with their recently widowed father in a small town near the Alps in France. Marc is a rebellious youth, into drugs and petty crime and at constant contention with his overbearing father. We follow his life where he hangs out with his friends, gets into all kinds of trouble because of drugs and is finally forced to kill his own dog for not paying the dues. The eldest brother Christophe is recently released from prison and is trying to live straight by starting from the bottom in a pork factory and working his way to the top. Prison life has tamed him and he has now accepted the realities of life. Marc was counting on his brothe...

When I started watching the film, I was excited to see that it is going to be a murder mystery but all along the way, I also kept wondering how does this film fit in the gay film bucket. My doubts were soon put to rest as the plot starts unfolding. The climax took me completely by surprise. I was not expecting it. I wish the movie had better subtitles because it seemed like a lot was being lost in translation. Not to be mean but it also took me sometime to get used to all the characters. They looked pretty similar, specially all the detectives (5-6 of them) an trying to differentiate on who's who takes up a lot of time. Kyeong-yoon and his female long-term colleague Eun-ju work on an especially gruesome case. The victim has been stabbed multiple times and the crime scene has blood all over it. Although the killer has erased his tracks very carefully, the detectives find some evidences which makes them to believe that the victim could be gay and that the culprit must have blood t...

Another one of those films which needs immense patience to watch it. I have that at times and then there are times when I just can't wait for a film to finish. Unfortunately, when I saw this film, I was in the second category. Reading reviews online tells me that this film is supposed to be a masterpiece but I nowhere felt that. In fact I dont even know why this film is classified as gay cinema. Yes, there are naked fit men all over but that itself doesn't qualify it for gay cinema. Galoup is an officer at a French Foreign Legion outpost in the Gulf of Dijbouti, where he enjoys a close relationship with the Commanding Officer and works with a team of fit young men who work hard all day and play hard all night. When Sentain, a new recruit, joins the troops, Galoup believes that it upsets the delicate balance between the C.O. and the other men. Sentain is well-liked by his comrades for his good humor and selfless nature, and his virtues make him the C.O.'s new favorite. Galo...

"Out in the Silence" is an earnest work. The low-key film-making is not dazzling or kinetic; however, the subject is important and worthy of study. Yes, it is predictable but is surprising at the same time. How much ever we think we are growing in terms of our thinking, the fact is there are still so any small towns and so many people that would do anything against homosexuals. Joe Wilson, a resident of Washington, DC, where same-sex marriage is legal, weds his partner. Perhaps in a conscious desire to stir the pot in his hometown, Oil City, Pennsylvania, he sends a wedding notice to the local newspaper. Predictable hate-filled letters to the editor are received and published. Help comes in the form of Kathy who is a mother of a young teenage boy CJ who happens to be gay and who is constantly bullied at school. They meet and Kathy tells Joe all the details about CJ and how suddenly he no longer is a school jock but just a faggot. Joe's interactions with local pastor i...

Opting to explore the darker side of love, this collection of short films alternates between dark desires and sweet affection. Some of the works arrive with a twist in their tale, whilst others are somewhat low in gay visibility, if high in humanity. Curious Thing (USA) This film sets out to examine the lives of gay men in NYC in this opening part. Exploring the growing bond between two men, both straight to the world, but equally aware of their burgeoning feelings for each other, emotions are set to test the boundaries of their friendship when one realizes he is gay and other is not. I think this short was beautiful. Cake And Sand (Germany) Tim and Julian’s relationship would seem to be the envy of many. Yet behind all the smiles, lies the reality that their relationship spark is no more. Knowing such, both are determined to re-light the romantic flame, only are their loving efforts to be in vain? This poignant piece raises the question of when exactly does love die? Beautiful. Watch ...

This one has to be some of the worse acted and directed shorts that I have seen. Agreed, some of the story concepts are very interesting for short films but they are handled so amateurishly, that it is a little embarrassing to watch. The only high point is that at there is a start and Indians are starting to make shorts (maybe even features) on gay themes. A Clouded Sky - A recently out gay man wants to commit suicide because he is fed up of everything. HIs best friend is trying to stop him but he gives all incidents which are reason enough for him to take this step. A Hidden Identity - A young boy walks through his normal life but is in closet. When he comes out, everyone reacts very negative and he ends up taking his own life. Astitva - A young eunuch boy is looking for identity. He ends up joining the eunuch group in search of his identity to see where he fits in the best. Gay - 2 homeless men are shivering in blistering cold sharing just one thin blanket. The only way ...